Brits: Bin Laden Planning More Attacks

LONDON – Terror suspect Usama bin Laden may be planning new attacks in the next few weeks if he can mobilize resources, senior British officials said Friday.

``I understand he is preparing for high-impact terrorist attacks in the coming weeks, if he's able to,'' Europe Minister Peter Hain told the British Broadcasting Corp., citing intelligence reports.

``We've got to track him down. We've got to stop him,'' he said.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw echoed the warning, saying there could be attacks in Britain. Police have warned that London could be a major target for attacks like those carried out in the United States.

``We have to work on the basis that this organization is still there around the world ... and that there continues to be a risk of them making further attacks,'' Straw told the BBC.

``We don't know exactly where. On the one hand none of us wish to raise anxiety in the minds of the public, but we would be complacent and irresponsible not to warn of the risks,'' he added.

Straw stressed the need for a major international drive to crack down on terrorism and the governments that might sponsor it. Otherwise, he said, there would always be a risk of further attacks.

``You can't negotiate with these people. The best historical parallel I'm afraid to say is those at the top of the Nazi regime. It wasn't possible to negotiate with Hitler, although some people understandably, but naively, thought that it was,'' he said.